1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for managing distribution of content to a device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Content to be provided to a device may take a variety of different forms. For example, data files may be provided to the device for use with particular applications installed upon the device. Further, particular application programs may be distributed to the device for installation on the device in order to facilitate new functions, for example word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, e-mail programs, etc.
Up until now, much of the development of techniques for managing the distribution of content to devices has centered on the area of fixed computer devices connected to a computer network. Within such an environment, it is then possible to provide a localised management support structure to provide content on the network, and to control individual devices' access to that content.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,129 describes a technique for managing application programs in a computer network. When a computer networks is provided within an organisation, it is commonplace for a directory services database to be provided on the computer network to provide a “White Pages” style directory concerning people and other resources within the organisation. Often such directory service databases are object oriented databases. In accordance with the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,129, such an object oriented database is adapted to support the inclusion of application objects defining software applications available on the network. Further, certain types of objects in the database, such as user objects, are adapted to allow desktop attributes to be specified. An application object can then be added as a desktop attribute for such an object, to indicate that the corresponding application should be made available to the user represented by the object.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,129 specifies the use of a launcher application, which for a particular user can be arranged to retrieve that user's object, and to adapt the user's desktop to provide icons for any application specified by application objects identified in the user object's desktop attributes. Hence, by the above approach, a user's desktop can be automatically updated to indicate those applications that are installed on the network and are available to that user for accessing. The applications themselves are retained centrally on the network, and the user accesses them over the network.
Whilst this technique is clearly beneficial to computer devices that are permanently connected to the network, and hence able to run applications on the network, it is clearly not suitable for distributed devices that may only make periodic connections to a network, and when not connected to a network will still need to be self-contained (i.e. will need the content to be stored locally for their own use). However, such a scenario is becoming more and more commonplace, with the proliferation in portable computer devices, mobile phones, personal digital assistant devices (PDA), electronic organisers, etc. Whilst it is clearly desirable for an organisation to allow individuals within the organisation to use such portable devices, it makes it significantly more difficult to control and manage the distribution of content to those devices.